Terms of Service

1.1 Minors. Users under the age of 18 (“Minors”) must obtain the express consent of a parent or legal guardian to use the Platform.

1.2 Responsibility. Parents or guardians who allow Minors to use the Platform agree to be bound by these Terms and are responsible for the Minor’s activities on the Platform.

2.1 Platform Role. The Platform acts as an intermediary e-marketplace that facilitates the sale of Digital Products on behalf of independent Photographers. The contract for each purchase is directly between the Buyer and the Photographer. Photographers independently decide which events they photograph and which Photos they upload; the Platform does not commission, assign, or direct the creation or listing of any Photo.

2.2 Digital Goods and Services. Each purchase constitutes both the delivery of a digital good and the performance of a digital service (licensing and delivery).

2.3 Instant Performance. Pursuant to the Internet Transactions Act of 2023 (R.A. 11967), the service is considered fully performed and the contract executed the moment the Digital Product is made available for download or sent to the Buyer.

2.4 Photo Subjects. Individuals who appear in Photos (“Photo Subjects”) are not required to hold an account to exercise their rights. Any Photo Subject may request the removal of Photos in which they appear through the mechanism described in our Privacy Policy, free of charge, and the Platform will act on valid requests expeditiously.

3.1 Ownership. All Digital Products are the original intellectual creations of the respective Photographers and are protected by the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (R.A. 8293). The Photographer retains full and exclusive ownership of the copyright at all times.

3.2 License Grant. Upon successful payment, the Photographer (through the Platform) grants the Buyer a non-exclusive, non-transferable, perpetual, personal license to use the Photo for Personal Use only.

3.3 Prohibited Uses. The Buyer shall not:

• Resell, sublicense, or redistribute the Digital Product.
• Claim authorship of the Digital Product.
• Use the Digital Product for commercial purposes without a separate Commercial License.

4.1 Prohibited Acts. Users shall not: (a) circumvent or alter any watermark, encryption, or access control; (b) screenshot, scrape, or bulk-download Photos other than through purchases; (c) reverse engineer or misuse the Platform’s search or recognition features; (d) submit another person’s image to the Search by Selfie feature without consent.

4.2 Violations. Violations may result in immediate suspension of access, forfeiture of pending transactions, and referral to appropriate authorities.

5.1 Internal Redress. In accordance with R.A. 11967, all users agree to first exhaust the Platform’s internal redress mechanism by sending a written complaint to support@fokus.ph.

5.2 Exhaustion of Remedy. The internal redress mechanism is deemed exhausted if the complaint remains unresolved after seven (7) calendar days from filing.

5.3 Platform Liability. As an e-marketplace, the Platform’s liability is governed by Sections 26 and 27 of R.A. 11967. The Platform is not liable for the Photographer’s breach of copyright or misrepresentations, provided the Platform acts expeditiously to address valid complaints.

6.1 Identification Requirements. In compliance with Section 21 of R.A. 11967, all Photographers must complete the Platform’s Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process prior to listing any Photos. Photographers must submit:

• Full Legal Name and at least one (1) valid government-issued identification card (e.g., Passport, Driver’s License, PhilID).
• Contact Information: A verifiable geographic address, mobile number, and a valid email address.

6.2 Verification Authority. The Platform reserves the right to use third-party verification services to validate the authenticity of submitted documents.

6.3 Suspension for Non-Compliance. The Platform shall suspend or terminate any account where the submitted KYC documents are found to be fraudulent, inaccurate, or expired.

7.1 Purpose of Collection. Photographers acknowledge that their personal and sensitive personal information is collected for the following purposes: (a) compliance with R.A. 11967; (b) prevention of fraud and money laundering; and (c) facilitating the exercise of consumer rights.

7.2 Consent. By submitting KYC documents, the Photographer provides explicit consent to the processing of their sensitive personal information in accordance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (R.A. 10173).

7.3 Disclosure to Authorities. The Platform is legally required to maintain an updated list of merchants and may disclose Photographer information to competent government authorities (e.g., DTI, NPC, or law enforcement) upon issuance of a valid subpoena or as required by law.

8.1 Warranties. Photographers represent and warrant that they are the sole creators and copyright owners of the Photos uploaded.

8.2 Lawful Capture. Responsibility for the lawful capture of Photos, including any consent required from persons appearing in them, rests with the Photographer.

8.3 No Conflicting Obligations. The Photographer warrants that they are not subject to any exclusivity, accreditation, or other contractual obligation to any third party that would be breached by uploading or selling Photos on the Platform.

8.4 Takedown Cooperation. The Photographer acknowledges that the Platform may remove or restrict access to any Photo upon receipt of a valid removal request from a person appearing in it, or upon a lawful order, and agrees to cooperate with such removal.

8.5 Indemnification. The Photographer shall indemnify and hold the Platform harmless from any claim, damage, or expense arising from a breach of the warranties in this Section. The Platform may withhold payouts proportionate to the probable value of a claim until the dispute is resolved.

9.1 Dispute Resolution. Photographers agree to cooperate with the Platform’s internal redress mechanism to resolve any disputes regarding photo quality, delivery, or Buyer complaints in a timely manner.

9.2 Account Actions. Failure to cooperate may result in account suspension or withholding of payouts until the dispute is resolved.

10.1 Infringement. Any use of a Digital Product by a Buyer beyond the scope of the granted license, or continued use after a refund or chargeback, shall be treated as copyright infringement against the Photographer.

10.2 Remedies. The Photographer, as the copyright owner, reserves the right to seek all legal remedies under R.A. 8293, including actual damages, statutory damages (not less than ₱50,000), and attorney’s fees.

11.1 No Account Required. Buyers may purchase Photos via guest checkout. No permanent account is created for the Buyer.

11.2 Delivery. Upon successful payment, the Digital Product will be delivered via the email address provided during checkout. It is the Buyer’s responsibility to provide a correct email address and to secure their purchase promptly.

12.1 How it Works. To provide you with the most efficient and seamless experience in locating your event photos, Fokus utilizes advanced facial recognition technology. By opting into the “Search by Selfie” feature and uploading a photo, you grant Fokus your explicit consent to process your image and its derived facial templates. This processing is essential to enable our matching functionality and to maintain the high accuracy and performance standards of the platform. While Fokus utilizes this data to facilitate your search, we do not claim ownership over your personal images.

12.2 Voluntary Nature and Continued Use. Participation in “Search by Selfie” is voluntary. However, please note that this feature is a core component of the Fokus high-speed retrieval system. By providing your photo, you acknowledge that Fokus may process this sensitive personal information to ensure the platform remains optimized for your specific search needs. In compliance with the Philippine Data Privacy Act (R.A. 10173), you may withdraw your consent at any time; however, such withdrawal will result in the immediate cessation of the search functionality and the removal of associated matching benefits.

12.3 Optimized Data Retention. In adherence to the principles of transparency and proportionality, Fokus does not retain biometric data longer than is required to support your user experience:

• Retention for Service Continuity: To allow for follow-up searches, “find more” requests, and to prevent the need for repetitive uploads, Fokus will retain your search selfie and derived templates for the duration of the event gallery’s availability or until you manually request their deletion.
• Platform Optimization: You grant Fokus permission to utilize anonymized metadata derived from these processes to ensure the continued reliability and security of our matching systems.
• Permanent Deletion: Upon the expiration of the event gallery or your specific request for erasure, all associated facial templates will be permanently purged from our active databases.

12.4 Data Protection and Disclosure. We implement robust organizational and technical security measures to protect your sensitive personal information. Fokus does not sell your facial data to third parties. We may, however, engage trusted service providers (Personal Information Processors) to facilitate these technical operations, subject to strict confidentiality agreements in accordance with R.A. 10173. For inquiries regarding your data, you may contact our Data Protection Officer at compliance@fokus.ph.

13.1 Final Sale. Due to the nature of digital content, all sales are final.

13.2 Limited Exceptions. In compliance with the Consumer Act of the Philippines (R.A. 7394), a refund may be requested within three (3) days if the file is technically corrupt or does not match the description provided.

13.3 Revocation of License. If a refund is issued, the Buyer’s license to use the Digital Product is immediately revoked. Continued use after a refund constitutes copyright infringement.

14.1 Ordinary Diligence. The Platform’s liability is subsidiary to the Photographer, provided the Platform has exercised ordinary diligence in merchant verification (KYC) and providing a redress mechanism as required by R.A. 11967.

14.2 Good Faith Reliance. Pursuant to Section 26 of R.A. 11967, the Platform shall not be held liable for its reliance in good faith on the documents submitted by a Photographer during the KYC process.

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of the Philippines.